The long flights to South America, the dangerous sea voyages, the arduous hikes and dark cells at the U.S.-Mexico border, culminated in a virtual heartbreak as 104 Indian migrants were flown back home. Hailing from Tahli village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, Harvinder Singh narrated how an agent duped him with a promise of a work visa in exchange of ₹42 lakh. All that he was informed about at the last minute was that the visa had not been obtained.
“He began the tortuous overland journey with several countries interposed, beginning from Delhi through Qatar to Brazil. “It was in Brazil that they informed us a flight would take us from Peru; that turned out to be non-existent. The next thing, we were by taxi taken first to Colombia onward to Panama – where the risky ‘donkey route’ begins,” he relates.
The journey had its share of mountain crossings and the sea ride that proved harrowing. Singh and fellow travelers were packed in a small boat that capsized en route in a four-hour ride, taking one life. One migrant died in the jungles of Panama when they were on minimal rations.
Sukhpal Singh from Darapur village had a similar horror story: 15 hours of sea journey and 40-45 kilometres of walking in dangerous hills. “If anybody got injured, they were left behind. We saw many bodies on the way,” he remembered, describing the dark cell he was kept in for 14 days after his arrest in Mexico.
The US military aircraft that brought these migrants back to Amritsar carried individuals from various states, with significant numbers from Haryana, Gujarat, and Punjab. Among the deportees were women and minors, all of whom had to go through the excruciating journey, often in shackles.
Family members are deeply disquieted in grief as the journey to search for a better livelihood brought upon the family all these burdens. Many took loans, sold everything, and tried gathering the money that was to take them abroad to stay back, crippled with unbearable debts and torn dreams. Wife of Harvinder Singh- Kuljinder Kaur is quoted, saying, “We borrowed at heavy interest with confidence in better tomorrows- now the mount of debts rests with us only.”
The region, popularly known as the ‘NRI Belt’ in Punjab, has been witnessing a continuous exodus of people, mostly migrants trying their luck abroad, but the recent deportations brought the country’s grim realities of illegal immigration to the fore.
